The bad, the ugly, and the cruel. Communism in Video Games: absurdity, Controversies and Propaganda

For last let’s leave that category that slowly starts to appear more often, and it is the one that presents the Soviet Union as brutal and soulless. Up until now we were treated with the comical or the heroic take, while more and more designers are starting to take notice of the historical events, even those not so convenient to Putin’s Russia. The first signs, that the communists will soon join the Nazis among the cruel video game characters, were already seen back in 2010. It was then when a very inconspicuous, yet solid game appeared on the market. In Singularity we led an American soldier who under mysterious circumstances is sent back in time to an era, where the ruthless communists are taking over the world. Leaping back and forth between the past and the present, our hero tries to stop the worst case scenario in which a totalitarian regime rises to power. Killing off ‘ruskis’ is in fact not the only way of reaching our goal, but needless to say, the slaughter is inevitable. We shouldn’t feel remorse, as our opponents are extraordinarily cruel, especially when it comes to their leader, the main villain of the game, Nikolai Demichev who crosses all borders. Due to the fact that the game is set in a fictional universe a controversy was avoided – despite the fact that the game features some morally ambiguous scenes featuring the Russians.

Metro 2034 is one of the few games, where communists are the primary villains. The game was made in Kiev, which explains a lot.

The same cannot be said about Company of Heroes 2, which debuted in 2013. In the available campaign, we took control of a Red Army commander and led the communist troops to victory over the Third Reich. Sounds like a game which we could enlist in one of the previous categories, right? Not quite. Already in the first mission we are taken to Stalingrad, where soviet leaders are making their soldiers go to combat without any weaponry whatsoever. The player’s task is to use the sacrifice of thousands of defenseless soldiers, to gain the advantage in urban fights. Even though we have already experienced Order 227 (which was shooting at Russia’s own soldiers who were retreating) back in Call of Duty, the creators at Infinity Ward softened the message in the later missions. In Company of Heroes 2, it was the other way around.

Soviet soldiers applying the ‘scorched earth’ tactic.

The further we have advanced, the more examples of the soviet’s cruelty and inhumanity were shown to us – like setting fire to houses full of people, killing insubordinate soldiers (even if they abandoned post to save someone from command), murdering soldiers of the polish Home Army who have helped in the fight against the Nazis, and many, many other, extremely vile acts. The game itself got some notoriety in Russia – being accused of partiality and selective exaggerating negative events. The fact remains, that up until now in video games no one had the courage to show in such a pungent fashion, the darker side of the communist forces. SEGA got quite a rap on the knuckles, in a country, were the current government is working really hard to soften the facts regarding Stalinism and swipe it under the rug. The game was even temporarily banned from distribution.

Tovarishch gamer, at ease!

Will that what we have seen in Company of Heroes 2 appear more often in bigger games? Taking into account the current political situation in the world, one cannot rule out such a possibility. On the other hand, it’s not news that victors write history, and producers aiming for the tremendous Russian market must keep in mind the Russians take on the ‘Great Patriotic War’. One thing is certain, we will still save the world as a Sascha or an Ivan, every once in a while. Games are, above all else, a profitable industry and as of now, no one appears to mind killing virtual Nazis.